Conventionally, there exists a structure in which a reactor is incorporated in a part of an electric power conversion circuit equipped on an electrically driven vehicle such as a hybrid electric vehicle. This reactor is used, for example, for a converter or the like which boosts a voltage of direct current electric power supplied from a battery and outputs the resulting electric power to the side of a motor which is a source of motive force.
In general, a reactor comprises a plurality of core members made of magnetic materials, a reactor core formed by connecting the core members in a ring shape with a non-magnetic gap plate therebetween, and a coil placed around a coil attachment position of the reactor core including the gap plate. The reactor including the reactor core and the coil is equipped on a vehicle, for example, in a state where the reactor is fixed using a bolt or the like in a casing made of a metal such as an aluminum alloy.
As a related art document related to the above-described reactor, JP 2009-99793 A (Patent Literature 1) discloses a method of manufacturing a reactor in which a reactor core having a coil is stored and fixed in a housing, and a silicone resin is impregnated and cured between the housing, reactor core, and coil, to fix the reactor in the housing. In the reactor disclosed in this reference, the reactor core is formed in an overall circular ring shape by fixing the ends of U-shaped cores by an adhesive and with the gap plate therebetween.
JP 2009-32922 A (Patent Literature 2) discloses a reactor core having a plurality of magnetic core members and non-magnetic gap plates interposed between adjacent core members, wherein an opposing surface of the core member and an opposing surface of the gap plate are fixed via an adhesive layer, and the pulling transmission means of leaking magnetic flux is formed on a peripheral surface other than the opposing surface of the gap plate, for pulling the leaking magnetic flux leaking from the core member and applying the leaking magnetic flux to the adjacent core member.